HEALTHCARE ETHICS UNIT 1
Ethics - govern our rights and responsibilities and
guide moral decision-making. Greek word ethos which
can mean custom, habit, character or disposition.
Ethics covers the following dilemmas
• how to live a good life
• our rights and responsibilities
• the language of right and wrong
• moral decisions - what is good and bad?
A code of ethics -takes the emotion out of decision-
making. Helps nurses navigate those gray areas to
provide safe and competent care to their patients.
THEORIES AND PRINCIPLES OF HEALTH ETHICS
ETHICAL THEORIES:
provide part of the decision-making foundation for
decision making, theories represent the viewpoints
from which individuals seek guidance as they make
decision.
Deontology – Deon means duty (based on
action/duty)
➢ adhere to their obligations and duties,
➢ upholding one’s duty is what is considered
ethically correct
➢ based on the individual’s set duties.
Teleology- Telos means end, goal & purpose (based
on result/consequence) consequentialism
➢ concerned with the consequences of actions
➢ consider and explain actions based on the
end result
➢ an action’s “goodness” is based on the
outcome.
➢ Teleological Ethical Theories Virtue Ethics in Nursing
➢ concerned with the character of individual
✓ 1.Ethical Egoism: that maximize the person’s
nurses
self-interest, always moral to promote one’s
➢ enable nurses to develop character traits
own good.
appropriate for actions that enhance
wellbeing
✓ 2.Utilitarianism: it results in maximum
➢ as an approach that emphasizes the
satisfaction for a large number of people who
character and disposition of a person
are likely to get affected by the action.
➢ emphasizes being rather than doing
o Utilitarian ethical theories - one’s
▪ Character refers to the structure of
ability to predict the consequences of
one’s personality with special
an action.
attention to its ethical components.
▪ Act utilitarianism- performs
➢ moral conduct assumes good characteristics
the acts that benefit the most
in a nurse as a moral agent
people, regardless of personal
▪ Intellectual Virtues (practical
feelings and law.
wisdom) and the Moral Virtues
▪ Rule utilitarianism-benefits
(virtues of character) are necessary
the most people but through
for the realization of various types of
the fairest and most just
moral obligations in nursing.
means or law. It values justice
➢ cardinal virtues expounded by ancient
and includes beneficence at
Greek philosophers: courage, temperance,
the same time.
prudence and justice
➢ virtues for the nurse as a moral agent:
✓ 3.Eudaimonism: it results in the fulfillment of
reflection, empathy, fairness, honesty,
goals along with the welfare of the human
dedication, responsibility and respect
beings. It promotes the fulfillment of goals
➢ five virtues as applicable to health
constitutive of human nature and its
professionals: trustworthiness, integrity,
happiness. Eudaimonia means happiness.
discernment, compassion and
VIRTUE ETHICS: conscientiousness
➢ rational control over emotions- virtues are
➢ looks at virtue or moral character, rather
necessary for rational control, because it
than at ethical duties and rules, or the
takes a so-called mean position between the
consequences of actions
vices or excess and deficiency
➢ concerned with the way individuals live their
➢ virtuous nurses are ethical nurses, because
lives, and less concerned in assessing
they have a deep desire to behave well,
particular actions.
irrespective of the circumstances
➢ a virtuous person is someone who has a
particularly good character
 Core Values of a Professional Nurse
Caring is best demonstrated by a nurse's ability to
embody the core values of professional nursing.
1.1 Love of God
1.2 Caring as the core of nursing
a. Compassion
b. Competence
c. Confidence
d. Conscience
e. Commitment (commitment to a culture
of excellence, discipline, integrity and
professionalism)
1.3 Love of People
Respect for the dignity of each person
regardless of creed, color, gender and
political affiliation.
1.4 Love of Country
a. Patriotism (Civic duty, social
responsibility and good governance)
b. Preservation and enrichment of the
environment and culture heritage
ETHICAL PRINCIPLES:
Nurses are held to seven ethical principles.
1. AUTONOMY - Self-determination that is free
from both controlling interferences by others
and personal limitations preventing meaningful
choice.
7 Patient’s Rights:
Right to medical treatment
✓ receive medical and/ or surgical advice and
treatment
✓ Department of Health, Philippine Pediatric
Society and other Specialty Societies are the
accepted standards.
✓ shall be treated with utmost care,
consideration, respect and dignity without
discrimination of any kind.
Right to information
✓ the identity and professional status of the
individuals involved
✓ kind/ type of medical/ surgical services and
charges/costs
✓ clear description of the patient’s medical
condition
✓ description is within scope and level of
patient’s understanding
✓ names of any medication or procedures
✓ access medical information
Right to choices
✓ accept or refuse any procedure/medication,
investigation or treatment
✓ second medical and/ or surgical opinion
✓ refuse to take part in medical research
programs
✓ to choose doctor and or health care personnel
in accordance to medical/surgical needs
(applicable to private patients)
Right to privacy
✓ privacy, dignity, religious and cultural beliefs
✓ information relating to medical condition be
kept confidential
✓ pediatric patient to the company of a parent
Right to complaint
✓ complaint through proper channels provided
dealt with promptly and fairly
Right to health education
✓ seek and obtain health education or advice
with regards to promotive, preventive and
curative medical, surgical and rehabilitative
Right to a healthy and safe environment
➢ environment that is conductive to good health
supportive of the rest and recuperation
Filipino Patients’ Bill of Rights follows the 7
patient’s rights.
Informed Consent
➢ process of understanding the risks and benefits
of treatment that doctors give
➢ based on the moral and legal premise of
patient autonomy
➢ must give and made voluntarily by the patient
o battery- legal term for failing to obtain
informed consent before performing a
test
➢ Exceptions:
o emergency in which medical care is
needed immediately to prevent serious
or irreversible harm
o Incompetence in which someone is
unable to give permission (or to refuse
permission) for testing or treatment
➢ Components:
o capacity (or ability) to make the
decision
o medical provider must disclose
information on treatment etc.
o must comprehend the relevant
information
o voluntarily grant consent, without
coercion or duress
➢ Essential Elements of Informed Consent
1. Confidentiality
2. New information
3. Voluntary participation
4. Person/s to contact for study information
5. Rights of subject, if study related injury
6. Reasons for termination
7. Duration of study
8. Number of subjects
Proxy Consent/ Legally Acceptable Representative
➢ to consent to medical treatment for
themselves with legal right
➢ for a minor or a ward delegate that right to
another person
➢ Three fundamental constraints on the
delegation:
o The person making the delegation must
have the right to consent.
o The person must be legally and
medically competent to delegate the
right to consent.
o The right to consent must be delegated
to a legally and medically competent
adult.
➢ Two conditions:
✓ The patient or research subject cannot
offer informed consent
✓ The person offering the consent ought to
determine what the incompetent person
would have decided
➢ Two Types of Proxy Consent for Adults
✓ The power of attorney
✓ The living will
2. ACCOUNTABILITY- taking responsibility for
one's actions Nurses must accept the
professional and personal consequences
associated with the decisions they make
regarding patient care.
3. VERACITY- principle of truth telling.
Truth telling is violated in at least two ways.
o By the act of lying or deliberate
exchange of erroneous information
o By the deliberate cloaking of
information in jargon
Two broad applications of veracity in
healthcare context:
o patient care and such issues as
informed consent
o professional ethics and the basic
expectation that we are honest in our
professional interactions
4. FIDELITY- be faithful to the promises they
made as professionals to provide competent,
quality care
5. JUSTICE- distributed equally among all groups
and procedures uphold the spirit of existing
laws and are fair to all players involved
Reproductive technologies create ethical dilemmas
because treatment is not equally available to all
people.
Four main areas when evaluating justice:
✓ fair distribution of scarce resources
✓ competing needs
✓ rights and obligations
✓ potential conflicts with established
legislation
6. BENEFICENCE- the intent of doing good for the
patient involved
7. NON-MALEFICENCE- does not harm the patient
involved or others in society
OTHER RELEVANT ETHICAL PRINCIPLES:
PRINCIPLE OF DOUBLE EFFECT
➢ permissibility of an action that causes a serious
harm as a side effect of promoting some good
end
➢ it is permissible to cause a harm as a side effect
of bringing about a good result
o Thomas Aquinas is credited with
introducing the principle of double
effect in his discussion of the
permissibility of self-defense in the
Summa Theologica (self defense)
o only one is intended, while the other is
beside the intention
Four Conditions:
✓ act itself must be morally good
✓ agent may not positively will the bad effect
but may permit it
✓ good effect must flow from the action at
least as immediately as the bad effect.
Good effect must be produced directly by
the action, not by the bad effect
✓ good effect must be sufficiently desirable
to compensate the bad effect
Reasons that will invoke Double Effect:
1. When the act by its nature is evil.
2. When the good effect directly proceeds from the
evil effect and not from the act itself.
3. When there is no sufficient reason for the
performance of an act with two effects, one-good,
the other-evil.
4. When the motive of the agent is not honest.
PRINCIPLE OF LEGITIMATE COOPERATION
➢ portrays the principle of the double effect in a
scenario in which more than one person
participates in the actions being evaluated
➢ Cooperation- Latin word cum which means
“with” and operari which means “to work”
Criteria to Judge:
o The moral object of your action is good
and you are operating out of good
intentions.
o The evil is only tolerated as a side
effect of your action
o Your cooperation is only material
cooperation, not formal
o Your cooperation is remote rather than
proximate so it causes minimal evil
effects
o Your action does not cause scandal
Various Degrees of Cooperation:
1. Formal and Material Cooperation
Material - an act other than the evil act
itself but facilitates and contributes to its
achievement.
Formal- an explicit intention and
willingness for the evil act Ex: A medical
director who wills and intends the evil act
of contraception
2. Direct and Indirect Cooperation
Direct- direct participation in the
performance of an evil act
Indirect- act that is not intimately
connected with the performance of an evil
act whose effect may have an indirect
bearing upon
3. Proximate and Remote Cooperation
Proximate- intimately linked with the
performance of an evil action due to its
close bearing
Remote- a distant bearing upon or
connection with the execution of an evil
act
PRINCIPLE OF COMMON GOOD
➢ the sum total of social conditions which allows
people, to reach their fulfilment more fully and
more easily
➢ about the progress of persons
➢ the good of all people and of the whole person
as its primary goal
PRINCIPLE OF SUBSIDIARITY
➢ intended to ensure that decisions are taken as
closely as possible to the citizen
➢ constant checks are made as to whether action
at Community level is justified at national,
regional or local level
➢ often considered a result of the principle of the
common good
➢ requires those in positions of authority to
recognize that individuals have a right to
participate in decisions that directly affect
them
➢ decisions should be made at the most
appropriate level in a society or organization
PRINCIPLE OF BIOETHICS:
PRINCIPLE OF STEWARDSHIP
➢ Stewardship is defined as governance wide
range of functions carried out to achieve
national health policy objectives
➢ help to improve overall levels of population
health
2001 Institute of Medicine Six Aims for 21st
Century:
1. safe
2. effective
3. patient-centered
4. timely
5. efficient
6. equitable
ROLE OF NURSES AS STEWARDS
➢ Personal Stewardship- nurse leaders engage
with the development of self
➢ Social Stewardship- a sense of social purpose
among public sectors of management, with
assisting to restore a sense of trust and
legitimacy to the role of the state
➢ Ecological Stewardship- improve the world. Be
ecologically aware and responsible. Protect
against pollution, deforestation, chemical
dumping and the exploitation
o Robert Biggio - says Green operation
equates to “being good stewards to the
environment, our people and our
resources,”
Stewardship of Nursing
o requires new models of delivery of care
o address the ever-changing nature of the work
of a nurse
Areas for more positive, healthy and engaging
environment:
✓ patient-population centeredness
✓ safety for patients and health care personnel
✓ the needs of an ageing workforce
✓ increased autonomy for advanced nurse
practitioners
✓ increased respect for the contributions made by
professional nurses
✓ clarification of the caring work of the nurse,
and
✓ enhancement of the collaborative practice of
the multidisciplinary health care team.
o Opportunity for nursing stewardship lies in the
regulatory and accreditation aspects of the
profession
o To influence decision-making at the point of
service, an ‘invigorating’ nurse leader or
steward is needed
o Nurses should create health care environments
that uphold value-based nursing practice
PRINCIPLE OF TOTALITY AND ITS INTEGRITY
➢ All decisions in medical ethics must prioritize
the good of the entire person, including
physical, psychological and spiritual factors
➢ Thomas Aquinas- all of the organs and other
parts of the body exist for the sake of the
whole person
➢ The human body is an integral part of the
human person and is therefore worthy of
human dignity
➢ No body part should be removed, mangled or
debilitated unless doing so is necessary for the
health of a more essential body part or the
body of a whole
➢ A single part may be sacrificed if the loss is
necessary for the good of the whole person
➢ An unessential or redundant body part may be
removed for the good of another person.
Applications:
✓ The amputation of a gangrenous limb, because
the person could die if the gangrene spread.
✓ Surgeries that needlessly remove body parts or
organs are immoral
✓ Torture is a moral evil because it seeks to
disintegrate the body and the spirit
Ethico-Moral Responsibility of Nurses in Surgery
Surgical/ Perioperative Nurse:
✓ work with other members of the surgical team,
patient and family
✓ may perform tasks in the preoperative,
intraoperative or postoperative phase of
surgery
✓ registered nurse has ethical and moral
responsibility to represent the patient's
interests, show humility, respect and protect
patient autonomy and preserve patient dignity
Ethico-Moral Aspects in Nursing:
✓ Autonomy – the right/freedom to decide, the
patient has the right to refuse despite the
explanation of the nurse. Ex: surgery, or any
procedure.
✓ Non-maleficence – the duty not to
harm/cause/inflict harm to others (maybe
physical, financial or social).
Responsibility of Nurses in Surgery/ Duties in the
Operating Room:
Perioperative nurses
✓ Assess patients prior to surgery and complete
documentation
✓ Perform patient education and provide
emotional support
✓ During and after the operation, they may
perform tasks such as taking the patient’s pulse
and blood pressure, emptying suction
equipment or removing dirty linens
✓ Must know how to operate all equipment in
the operating rooms and where all supplies
and equipment are stored
✓ Helping to transport a patient to surgery or to
the post-anesthesia recovery area
✓ May administer medications to help sedate the
patient prior to a procedure, order supplies or
instruments and assure that equipment is
properly cleaned and stored
✓ May also be responsible for sterilization of
instruments in some organizations
The Scrub Nurse:
✓ Perioperative nurses may work as either scrub
or circulating nurses.
✓ While the physicians perform the surgery and
manage the anesthesia, the scrub nurse selects
and passes instruments, tools and supplies
used during the operation.
✓ Watches carefully for possible contamination
to assure sterile technique is maintained at all
times.
✓ Will assure that all items on the surgical trays
are counted before and after the operation
 The Circulating Nurse:
✓ The circulating nurse is the extra pair of hands
for each of the other health-care professionals
in the room.
✓ She will assist the surgeon, assistant and scrub
nurse in donning their sterile clothing or
protective equipment.
✓ She may bring more dressings or pick up an
instrument that has been dropped.
✓ If the anesthesiologist needs his cart restocked
or an additional vial of medication, the
circulating nurse will perform those tasks.
✓ The circulating nurse is also the room monitor.
✓ She keeps an eye on all activity to keep the
patient and the surgical team safe.
Sterilization in Bioethics
surgical technique leaving a male or female unable
to reproduce and a method of birth control
Common Sterilization Methods in Males:
Vasectomy
o vas deferens (the tubes which connect the
testicles to the prostate) are cut and closed.
o Prevents sperm produced in the testicles to
enter the ejaculated semen
Castration (also known as orchiectomy)
o any action, surgical, chemical, or otherwise, by
which an individual loses use of the testicles:
the male gonad.
Common Sterilization Methods in Females:
Tubal ligation (having one's tubes tied)
o fallopian tubes, which allow the sperm to
fertilize the ovum and would carry the
fertilized ovum to the uterus, are closed.
o involves a general anesthetic and a laparotomy
Hysterectomy
o uterus is surgically removed, permanently
preventing pregnancy and some diseases, such
as uterine cancer
Type of Sterilization
1. Direct or Indirect
o Direct Sterilization- is directly willed either
as an end or a means. (Ex. Vasectomy or
ligation)
o Indirect Sterilization- is not willfully
employed either as an end or a means. (Ex.
Surgical removal of the ovaries or testicles
sick with cancer)
2. Temporary or Permanent
o Temporary Sterilization- brings about
provisionary and reversible sterility (Ex.
Oral and hormonal contraceptives)
o Permanent Sterilization- creates
irreversible and lasting sterility. (Ex.
Hysterectomy, oophorectomy,
salpingectomy)
3. Medical or Surgical
o Medical sterilization- produces medically-
sterilizing effect as temporarily (Ex. Pills for
women who doesn’t want to get pregnant).
o Surgical sterilization sterilizes or renders
one unable to reproduce.
4. Punitive or Eugenic
o Punitive Sterilization- is a form of penalty
or punishment usually ascribed to sex-
related crimes. It may be permanent,
surgical form of sterilization
o Eugenic Sterilization- is intended for one
whose genetic or eugenic make up is seen
to produce defective offspring.
Moral Issues on Sterilization
• The Catholic church has strongly condemned
all artificial methods of Contraception-
contraceptive pill, condoms and also medical
procedures such as vasectomy and ligation
• Stated in Papal Encyclical Humanae Vitae,
issued by Pope Paul VI in 1968
Mutilation in Bioethics
an act or physical injury that degrades the
appearance or function of the (human) body,
usually without causing death
(Justification of mutilation by Thomas Aquinas)
Types of Mutilation
1. Major Mutilation- destroys the functional
integrity of the human body so that it
becomes incapacitated of its natural
function. Ex. Radical Mastectomy,
Appendectomy, Herniorrhaphy, Caesarean
Section, Craniotomy.
2. Minor Mutilation- diminishes but does not
destroy the functional integrity of the
human body. Ex. Biopsies (mole, warts),
excision of ingrown.
Moral Issues on Mutilation (For Aristotle)
✓ totum quam parte, prius esse necesse est
main notions on which the principle of
totality grounds itself are “the whole, the
part, and their mutual relationships.”
✓ quantum qua quantum
a part denotes any portion of a major into
which it can be divided remains always a
part of it
Differences in the Application to Particular Issues:
▪ A diseased part is harmful to the whole body.
▪ The predicament of a person who was ordered
by a tyrant to cut off his own hand.
▪ The necessity to amputate an extremity.
▪ Concerning the morality of mutilation,
traditional moral theologians base their
arguments that man/woman has only a limited
right over his/her body.
▪ Mutilation on the ground of the principle of
totality is justified only by the physical good of
the person.
Presentation of Bodily Issues on Organ Donation
➢ Organ donation- a person allows an organ of
their own to be removed and transplanted to
another person, legally, either by consent while
the donor is alive or dead
➢ Donation may be for research, and healthy
transplantable organs and tissues may be
donated to be transplanted into another
person
➢ Common transplantations include:
o Kidneys
o Heart
o Liver
o Pancreas
o Intestines
o Lungs
o Bones
o Bone marrow
o Skin
o Corneas
➢ Republic Act No. 7170- An act authorizing the
legacy or donation of all or part of a human
body after death for specified purposes
(Approved, January 7, 1992)
✓ SEC. 1. Title. – “Organ Donation Act of 1991.”
✓ SEC. 2. Definition of Terms
a) “Organ Bank Storage Facility” – a facility
licensed, accredited or approved under the
law for storage of human bodies or parts
thereof.
b) “Decedent” – a deceased individual, and
includes a still-born infant or fetus.
c) “Testator” – an individual who makes a
legacy of all or part of his body.
d) “Donor” – an individual authorized
under this Act to donate all or part of the
body of a decedent.
e) “Hospital” – a hospital licensed,
accredited or approved under the law, and
includes a hospital operated by the
Government.
f) “Part” – includes transplantable organs,
tissues, eyes, bones, arteries, blood, other
fluids and other portions of the human
body.
g) “Person” – an individual, corporation,
estate, trust, partnership, association, the
Government or any of its subdivisions,
agencies or instrumentalities, including
government-owned or -controlled
corporations; or any other legal entity.
h) “Physician” or “Surgeon” – a physician
or surgeon licensed or authorized to
practice medicine under the laws of the
Republic of the Philippines.
i) “Immediate Family” of the decedent –
the persons enumerated in Section 4(a) of
this Act.
j) “Death” – the irreversible cessation of
circulatory and respiratory functions or the
irreversible cessation of all functions of the
entire brain, including the brain stem
✓ SEC. 3. Person Who May Execute A Legacy
Any individual, at least eighteen (18) years of
age and of sound mind, may give by way of
legacy
✓ SEC. 4. Person Who May Execute a Donation
1) Spouse;
2) Son or daughter of legal age;
3) Either parent;
4) Brother or sister of legal age; or
5) Guardian over the person of the
decedent at the time of his death.
✓ SEC. 5. Examination of Human Body or Part
Thereof- authorizes any examination necessary
to assure medical acceptability.
o An autopsy shall be conducted on the
cadaver of accident, trauma, or other
medico-legal cases immediately after
the pronouncement of death, to
determine qualified and healthy
human organs for transplantation
and/or in furtherance of medical
science
✓ SEC. 6. Persons Who May Become Legatees or
Donees
a) Any hospital, physician or surgeon –
For medical or dental education,
research, advancement of medical or
dental science, therapy or
transplantation;
b) Any accredited medical or dental
school, college or university – For
education, research, advancement of
medical or dental science, or therapy;
c) Any organ bank storage facility –
For medical or dental education,
research, therapy, or transplantation;
and
 d) Any specified individual – For
therapy or transplantation needed by
him.
✓ SEC. 7. Duty of Hospitals- they are authorized
to receive organ donations or to conduct
transplantation and shall accomplish the
necessary form or document as proof of
compliance
✓ SEC. 8. Manner of Executing a Legacy
o a) Legacy of all or part of the human
body may be made by will. The legacy
becomes effective upon the death of
the testator without waiting for
probate of the will. If the will is not
probated, or if it is declared invalid for
testamentary purposes, the legacy, to
the extent that it was executed in good
faith, is nevertheless valid and
effective.
o b) A legacy of all or part of the human
body hereof may also be made in any
document other than a will. The legacy
becomes effective upon death of the
testator and shall be respected by and
binding upon his executor or
administrator, heirs, assigns,
successors-in-interest and all members
of the family. The document, which
may be a card or any paper designed to
be carried on a person, must be signed
by the testator in the presence of two
witnesses who must sign the document
in his presence.
o c) The legacy may be made to a
specified legatee or without specifying
a legatee. The attending physician or
surgeon, in the absence of any
expressed indication that the testator
desired otherwise, may accept the
legacy as legatee. The physician who
under this subsection shall not
participate in the procedures for
removing or transplanting a part or
parts of the body of the decedent.
o d) The testator may designate in his
will, card or other document, the
surgeon or physician who will carry out
the appropriate procedures
✓ SEC. 9. Manner of Executing a Donation -Any
donation by a person authorized shall be
sufficient if it complies with the formalities.
Neither of the physician that will transplant
should be:
o a) A member of the team of medical
practitioners who will effect the
removal of the organ from the body;
nor
o b) The physician attending to the
recipient of the organ to be removed;
nor
o c) The head of hospital or the
designated officer authorizing the
removal of the organ.
✓ SEC. 10. Person(s) Authorized to Remove
Transplantable Organs - Only authorized
medical practitioners in a hospital shall remove
and/or transplant any organ
✓ SEC. 11. Delivery of Document of Legacy or
Donation- the will, card or other document, or
an executed copy thereof, may be delivered by
the testator or donor, or his authorized
representative, to the legatee or donee to
expedite the appropriate procedures
immediately after death
✓ SEC. 12. Amendment or Revocation of Legacy
or Donation-
o a) If the will has been delivered to a
specific legatee or donee, the testator
or donor may amend or revoke the
legacy or donation either by:
▪ 1) The execution and delivery
to the legatee or donee of a
signed statement to that
effect; or
▪ 2) An oral statement made in
the presence of two other
persons and communicated to
the legatee or donee; or
▪ 3) A statement during a
terminal illness or injury
addressed to an attending
physician and communicated
to the legatee or donee; or
▪ 4) A signed card or document
found on the person or effects
of the testator or donor.
o b) Any will, card or other document, or
an executed copy thereof, which has
not been delivered to the legatee or
donee may be revoked by the testator
or donor by destruction, cancellation
or mutilation of the document and all
executed copies thereof.
✓ SEC. 13. Rights and Duties After Death
o a) The legatee or donee may accept or
reject the legacy or donation as the
case may be. If the legacy or donation
is of a part of the body, the legatee or
donee, upon the death of the testator
and prior to embalming, shall effect
the removal of the part, avoiding
unnecessary mutilation. After removal
 of the part, custody of the remainder
of the body vests in the surviving
spouse, next of kin or other persons
under obligation to dispose of the body
of the decedent.
o b) Any person who acts in good faith
in accordance with the terms of this
Act shall not be liable for damages in
any civil action or subject to
prosecution in any criminal proceeding
of this Act.
✓ SEC. 14. International Sharing of Human
Organs or Tissues - Sharing of human organs or
tissues shall be made only through exchange
programs duly approved by the Department of
Health
✓ SEC. 15. Information Drive- the Department of
Health, in cooperation with other institutions
shall undertake a public information program.
✓ SEC. 16. Rules and Regulations -The Secretary
of Health both government and private, and
non-government health organizations shall
promulgate such rules and regulations
✓ SEC. 17. Repealing Clause- All laws, decrees,
ordinances, rules and regulations, executive or
administrative orders, and other presidential
issuances inconsistent with this Act, are hereby
repealed, amended or modified accordingly
✓ SEC. 18. Separability Clause - The provisions
are hereby deemed separable. If any provision
declared invalid or unconstitutional the
remaining provisions shall remain in full force
and effect
✓ SEC. 19. Effectivity -This Act shall take effect
after fifteen (15) days following its publication
in the Official Gazette or in at least two
newspapers of general circulation
PRINCIPLES OF PERSONALIZED SEXUALITY
Sex
• search for sensual pleasure and satisfaction,
releasing physical and psychic tensions.
• search for the completion of the human person
through an intimate personal union of love
expressed by bodily union.
• is a symbolic (sacramental) mystery.
Sexuality
• a complex aspect for our personality and self.
• defined by sexual thoughts, desires and
longings, erotic fantasies, turns-on and
experiences.
Personalized Sexuality
• is based on the understanding of sexuality as
one of the basic traits of the human person and
must be developed in ways consistent with
enhancing human dignity.
As the image of God, man is created for love.
GENESIS 1-3: Teaches that God created person as
male and female and blessed their sexuality as a
great and goal gift.
The Gift of Sexuality
✓ must be used in keeping with its intrinsic,
invisible, specifically human teleology.
✓ must be a loving, bodily, pleasurable
expression of the complementary, permanent
self-giving of a man and a woman to each
other.
Values of Sexual Morality
1. Sex is a search for sensual pleasure and
satisfaction, releasing physical and psychic
tensions.
2. Sex is a search for the completion of the human
person through an intimate personal union of love
expresses by bodily union.
3. Sex is a social necessity for the procreation of
children and their education in the family so as to
expand the human community and guarantee is
future beyond the death of individual members.
4. Sex is a symbolic (sacramental) mystery.
5. Sex is based on the understanding of sexuality as
one of the basic traits of the human person and
must be developed in ways consistent with
enhancing human dignity.
For Secular Humanist, Reasonable Uses of Sex
(secular humanism is a set of beliefs that
emphasize the importance of reason and of people
rather than religion)
1. use sex purely for sake of pleasure apart from
any relation to love or family.
2. use it to reproduce (making test tube babies)
without any reference to pleasure or love.
3. expression of unselfish love, but without any
relation to marriage or family.
Norms of Sexual Morality
1. Laws or social attitudes that hinder human
freedom to achieve these values in ways the
individuals’ desires are unjust and oppressive.
2. Sexual behavior, at least among consenting
adults, is entirely a private matter to be
determined by personal choice, free from any
moral guilt.
Reasonable Uses of Sex
Sexual behavior, at least among consenting adults,
is entirely a private matter to be determined by
personal choice, free from any moral guilt.